Squad Ambassadors

Meet the ambassadors...

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Our ambassadors are young writers aged 13- 17 who are passionate about creative writing. Having taken part in the Writer Squad scheme, they have been selected to represent their region and be a spokesperson for the writers of tomorrow. Together, the ambassadors are developing a manifesto, championing the importance of creative writing.

Layla Mostaghimi - 'Stephen Queen'

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Brighton Squad

For Layla, writing has always been a means of pacing sequences of events and forming or preserving situations. Through her time in the Brighton Squad, she was inspired by a lecture from Sue Walker, crime writer, who shared her knowledge on writing. Using this, Layla took the confidence and inspiration to write the house play at school.

Situations and comedy has always been a strong interest, and she hopes to have a future in marketing and journalism and keep creative writing and comedy as a hobby and interest.

Seamus Waters Francis

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Brighton Squad

As a squad ambassador I love writing, I love crime fiction and Conan Doyle. I desire to be a writer like Russell T. Davies and whoever wrote Sherlock. My dream job would be a travel journalist as I could travel, do what I love and get paid!

My future life!!

Mataio Austin Dean - 'Purple Trotzky '

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Portsmouth Squad

Mataio Austin Dean is a 16 year old who loves painting, creating music, socialism and writing.

He usually writes poetry, short stories and songs but is interested in all forms of art and writing.

Mataio came third in a National Competition with his poem about talking trees and Native Americans.

Pippa Crundwell - ‘PCL’

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Portsmouth Squad

Pippa is an aspiring novelist, poet and playwright. She spends her free time cooking up short stories in her bedroom as well as baking an interesting variety of poems and plays in the garden.

She has had success in a number of competitions which include being short listed for the Wicked Young Writers Award 2011, winning the Steyning Festival Short Story Competition in 2012, being runner up in the Brighton Festival Peacock Poetry Prize 2013, winning the Animal Aid Poetry Competition 2012 and has had a number of poems and short stories published in the Wordsmith magazine in the past 2 years. In the future she sees herself having several books displayed in the window of Waterstone’s as well as plays hitting the big stages around the country.

Samuel Williams

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Margate Squad

He lives in a studio, dusty hair and crumpled clothes. He makes films, 150 cameras, 300 actors and 55 editors. Well he wishes and hopes, but Sam will fufill his dreams, it might take twenty years but he will do it. At the moment he writes and fights at school, every day a drain on your words. So yeah, that’s his life I’m glad that I haven’t fallen to this terrible way of living.

Holly White

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Margate Squad

Holly has done some performance poetry and has entered some short story competitions for young people.

Samantha Woodier - ‘Robin I. Parker’

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Robin I. Parker is a member of the Berry Squad. She often writes about various things and aspires to be writing as a young adult novelist… That is, if she would stop procrastinating.

Owen A. Quinn

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Rye Squad

Owen A. Quinn is determined to change the world, for young people especially into a better place. The series of novels he has begun to write will, he hopes, inspire its readers to see our world in a different light, to go out and start helping this Earth and it's species (humans included!) and to write the stories they themselves want to write. For writing is hope in hopelessness, inspiration in stagnation, action in apathy and chorus in chaos...